CHIEF MINISTER

 The Chief Minister is the state government's most powerful official.

 He is the head of the State Council of Ministers and the real executive head of state
government.
 He wields enormous power and is a key figure in the state.
 The Constitution makes no mention of a specific procedure for selecting and appointing
the Chief Minister.
 According to Article 164 of the Indian Constitution, the Governor appoints the Chief
Minister.
o It also mentions that there shall be a Council of Ministers along with the Chief
Minister, to assist and advise the governor.
 After the Legislative Assembly election, the task of forming the government begins.
 The party with the most votes in the Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) has the right
to form the government.
 The governor must appoint the leader of the majority party in the state legislative
assembly as chief minister, regardless of his preferences.
 Ministers are appointed based on the Chief Minister’s recommendations.
 The Chief Minister may be a member of either of the two Houses of a state legislature.
 He should be 25 years of age.

Powers and Functions of Chief Minister

The Chief Minister's powers and functions can be studied under the following headings:

With Regards to Council of Ministers

 The governor appoints only those persons as ministers who are recommended by the
Chief Minister.
 He assigns and reshuffles portfolios to ministers.
 In the event of a disagreement, he can ask a minister to resign or advise the governor to
dismiss him.
 He presides over meetings of the council of ministers and has an influence on its
decisions.
 He directs, supervises, and coordinates the activities of all ministers.
 By resigning from office, he can bring the council of ministers to an end.
 Since the Chief Minister is the head of the council of ministers, his resignation or death
results in the council of ministers being dissolved.
 Any other minister's resignation or death, on the other hand, simply creates a vacancy,
which the Chief Minister may or may not fill.

With Regards to the Governor

 He serves as the primary liaison between the governor and the council of ministers. It is
the Chief Minister's duty to:
 o communicate to the Governor of the state all decisions of the council of ministers
relating to the administration of the affairs of the state and proposals for
legislation;
o furnish such information relating to the administration of the affairs of the state
and proposals for legislation as the governor may require; and
o submit for the consideration of the council of ministers any matter that the
governor so requires.
 He advises the governor on the appointment of important officials such as the state
attorney general, the chairman and members of the state public service commission, the
state election commissioner, and so on.

With Regards to State Legislature

 He advises the governor on the summoning and proroguing of the state legislature's
sessions.
 He has the authority to recommend to the governor the dissolution of the legislative
assembly at any time.
 He announces the government's policies on the floor of the House.

Other Powers & Functions

 He is the State Planning Board's chairman.

 By rotation, he serves as vice-chairman of the concerned zonal council, holding office for
one year at a time.
 He is a member of the Prime Minister's Inter-State Council and the Governing Council of
NITI Aayog.
 He is the state government's chief spokesman.
 During emergencies, he serves as the chief crisis manager at the political level.
 As the state's leader, he meets with various groups of people and receives memos from
them about their problems, and so on.
 He is the political head of the services.

Term

 The Chief Minister's term is not fixed.

 He serves the office during the pleasure of the governor. However, this does not mean
that the governor can dismiss him at any time.
 He cannot be fired by the governor as long as he has a majority in the legislative
assembly.
 However, if he loses the confidence of the assembly, he must resign or be dismissed by
the governor.

Salary

 The state legislature determines the Chief Minister's salary and allowances.
  In addition to his salary and allowances, he receives a sumptuary allowance, free
accommodation, a travel allowance, medical facilities, and so on.

Significance

 The CM's position is paramount in the State's governmental system.

 In practice, his position will only be imposing if his party has a clear majority in the State
Legislature.
 When there is a coalition government, it is more difficult to uphold the principle of
collective responsibility.
 In that case, much of the Chief Minister's time and energy will be wasted on keeping his
team united and disciplined.
 The Chief Minister is the primary spokesperson for a state's government.
 He is the Governor's chief advisor, the leader of the majority party in the state legislature,
and the most powerful leader of his party.
 He is the official representative of the entire state. Normally, he has vast powers of
appointment and promotion, and the Governor always seeks his advice.
 The Chief Minister is the chief architect of the state government's policies. He is in
charge of the state administration.
 His position in the state is comparable to that of the Prime Minister in the centre.
 The Chief Minister communicates all policies and decisions to the people of the state
through the media.
 He holds regular or periodic press conferences in which he/she informs the citizens of the
state about how the government is working.

Conclusion
The Chief Minister plays a very important and critical role in state administration. The
governor's discretionary powers, on the other hand, limits the Chief Minister's power, authority,
influence, prestige, and role in state administration.
COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

The Constitution provides that there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister at
the head to aid and advice the Governor in the exercise of his functions except in so far as he is
by or under the Constitution required to act in his discretion. The Council of Ministers
constitutes the real executive in the State. Although the administration is carried on in the name
of the Governor, actual decisions are normally made by Ministers.

Under ordinary circumstances, the Governor has to follow their advices. It is the duty of the
Chief Minister of a State to communicate to the Governor regarding administration and the
affairs of the State.

Thus, in theory the Governor may dismiss a minister if he so likes, but in view of the collective
responsibility of the Council of Ministers to the State Legislative Assembly, he is not likely to
use this power in actual practice.

The Constitution defines the position of the Council of Ministers in relation to the State
Legislature by providing that the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the
Legislative Assembly of the State. This means that they can remain in office only if they enjoy
the support of a majority of members of the State Legislative Assembly.

The number of the ministers is not fixed. It is for the Chief Minister to determine the size of the
Council of Ministers and he does so as the requirements of the occasion may demand.; The only
constitutional requirement is that in the States of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Orissa the Council
of Ministers must have a Minister in charge of Tribal welfare and the same Minister may also be
entrusted with the welfare of the Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes in the State.

Powers and Functions of the Council of Ministers:

The Council of Ministers performs the following functions:

(i) Formulation of Policies:
The Ministers formulate the policies of the government. The Cabinet takes decisions on all major
problems—public health, relief to the disabled and unemployed, prevention of plant diseases,
water storage, land tenures and production, supply and distribution of goods. When it has
formulated a policy, the appropriate department carries it out.

(ii) Administration and Maintenance of Public Order:

The executive power is to be exercised in such a way as to ensure compliance with State laws.
The Constitution empowers the Governor to make -rules for the more convenient transaction of
the business of the Government. All such rules are made on the advice of the Council of
Ministers.
(iii) Appointments:
The Governor has the power to appoint the Advocate-General and the Members of the State
Public Service Commission. The Vice-Chancellors of the State Universities and members of
various Boards and Commissions are all appointed by the Governor. The Governor cannot make
these appointments at his will. He must exercise these functions on the advice of his ministers.

(iv) Guiding the Legislature:

Most of the Bills passed by the Legislature are Government Bills, prepared in the ministries.
They are introduced, explained and defended in the State Legislature by the Ministers. The
Cabinet prepares the Governor’s Address in which it sets forth its legislative programme at the
commencement of the first session of the Legislature each year.

For weeks at a stretch the Cabinet’s proposals take over every working moment of the House.
The Cabinet makes sure that all government bills will be translated into laws.

(v) Control over the State Exchequer:

The State budget containing the estimates of income and expenditure for the ensuing year is
placed by the Finance Minister before the State Legislature. The Legislature cannot take the
initiative in the case of a Money Bill. Such a Bill must be recommended by the Governor and
can be introduced only by a Minister. The initiative in financial matters lies with the Executive.

(vi) Execution of Central Laws and Decisions of the Union Government:

The Union Government is empowered to give directions to the State-governments in certain
matters. The States should exercise their executive power so as to ensure compliance with the
laws made by Parliament. They should not do anything which would hamper the executive
power of the Union.

Railways, for instance, is a Union subject, but police, including railway police, is a State Subject.
The Union Government can give directions to the State Executive as to the measures to be taken
for the protection of railways within the State.
STATE SECRETARIAT

The functioning of the government is made effective with the help of task-oriented Ministries.
No Ministry can run smoothly without the support of a Secretariat at the Union as well as State
levels. The Secretariat helps the government in policy-making and execution of legislative
functions. This Unit discusses the organisation and functions of the State Secretariat. It explains
the pattern of departmentalisation in the Secretariat; and brings out the distinction between the
Secretariat Department and Executive Department. In addition, position and functions of the
Chief Secretary in the state administration are also discussed.

The three components of government at the state level are:

(i) the Minister;

(ii) the Secretary; and

(iii) the Executive Head (last one in most cases is called the Director, although other
nomenclatures are also used to refer to the executive head).

The Minister and the Secretary together constitute the Secretariat, whereas the office of the
Executive Head is designated as the Directorate. Literally, the term “Secretariat” means the
Secretary’s office. It originated at a time when what we had in India was really a government run
by the Secretaries. After Independence, the power of governance passed into the hands of the
popularly elected Ministers and thus the Ministry became the seat of authority. In the changed
political situation, the term Secretariat has become a synonym for the Minister’s office. As the
Secretary is the principal adviser to the Minister, therefore s/he needs to be in the physical
vicinity of the Minister. In effect, therefore, Secretariat refers to the complex of building that
houses the office of Ministers and Secretaries. The expression Secretariat, it has been observed,
is used to refer to the complex of departments whose heads politically are Ministers; and
administratively are the Secretaries.

POSITION AND ROLE OF STATE SECRETARIAT

The following extract from the Administrative Reforms Commission’s Report on State
Administration gives a succinct expression to the position and role of the State Secretariat: The
State Secretariat, as the top layer of the state administration, is primarily meant to assist the state
government in policy-making and in discharging its legislative functions.

The main functions of the State Secretariat are as follows:

i) Assisting the ministers in policy-making, modifying policies from time to

time and discharging their legislative responsibilities;
ii) Framing draft legislation, and rules and regulations;
 iii) Coordinating policies and programmes, supervising and controlling their
execution, and reviewing of the results; iv) Budgeting and control of
expenditure;
iv) Maintaining contact with the Government of India and other state
governments; and
v) Overseeing the smooth and efficient running of the administrative machinery,
and initiating measures to develop greater personnel and organisational
competence.

The administrative philosophy to which the secretariat system owes its existence is that policy-
making must be kept separate from policy execution. Several advantages claimed in favour of
such an arrangement are:

i) Freedom from operational involvement makes the policy-making apparatus forward

looking and allows it to think in terms of overall goals of government rather than
narrow, sectional interests of individual departments.
ii) Policy-making receives the time and attention it deserves, if different set of persons
are charged with the functions of policy-making as well as its execution. This is
because, policy-making is a serious exercise in drawing up what would be a future
course of action. It should not be treated as less urgent than policy execution, which
involves routine, day-to-day administration.
iii) Secretariat serves as a disinterested adviser to the Minister. It is important to
remember that the Secretary is the Secretary to the government and not to the
Minister concerned, which ensures objective examination of the proposals coming
from the Executive Department. It enables a more balanced scrutiny of proposals.
iv) Policy-making must be separated from current administration; and day-to-day
implementation should be left to a different agency with executive freedom, which
ensures delegation of authority.

It should be in order at this stage to portray the broad dimensions of the Secretariat’s role in
some detail. The foremost of these is the Secretariat’s role in policy-making. It assists the
ministers in the formulation of government policies. This has many aspects. First, the Secretary
supplies to the Minister all the data and information needed for policy formulation. Second, the
secretaries sometimes provide the programmes, with content by working out their details, on
whose strength ministers are voted to power. Third, the Secretariat assists ministers in their
legislative work. Drafts of legislations to be introduced in the legislature by ministers are
prepared by the secretaries. Besides, to answer questions in the Legislature, the Minister needs
relevant information; and the Secretary supplies this information to the Minister. In addition, the
Secretary also collects information required with respect to the legislative committees. Fourth,
the Secretariat functions as an institutionalised memory. This means that the emerging problems
require an examination in the light of precedents. Records and files maintained in the Secretariat
serve as an institutional memory, and ensure continuity and consistency in the disposal of cases.
Fifth, the Secretariat is a channel of communication between one government and another, and
between the government and such agencies as the Finance Commission. Finally, the Secretariat
evaluates and keeps track of execution of policies by the field agencies.

STRUCTURE OF A TYPICAL SECRETARIAT DEPARTMENT

Vertically, a typical Secretariat Department has two hierarchical formations that of the officers
and, what is described as the office.

Officers

Conventionally, the officers’ hierarchy had three levels. Under this, a typical
administrative department is headed by a Secretary who will have a complement of Deputy
Secretaries and Under/Assistant Secretaries. But with growth in the functions of various
secretariat departments, the number of levels in the officers’ hierarchy has been on the increase.
As a result, between the Secretary and the Deputy Secretary, in some states, positions of
Additional and/or Joint Secretaries have also been created.

Office

A unique feature of the Secretariat system in India has been the distinction between its
two component parts – “the transitory cadre of a few superior officers” and “the permanent
office”. The officers in each department, because they hold tenure posts, come and go. It is the
office, which is manned by permanent functionaries, which provides the much needed element of
continuity to the Secretariat department. Unlike officers, the office constitutes the permanent
element in the Secretariat system. The office component is comprised of superintendents (or
section officers), assistants, clerks, computer operators etc. The office performs the spadework
on the basis of which the officers consider cases and make decisions. Office supplies officers
with materials, which constitute the basis for decision-making. The structure of a typical
Department can be depicted as follows:

Department - Secretary

Wing - Additional/Joint Secretary

Division - Deputy Secretary

Branch - Under Secretary

Section - Section Officer

The Section is the lowest organisational unit and it is under the charge of a Section Officer.
Other functionaries in a section are assistants, clerks, computer operators, etc. A Section is
referred to as the office. Two Sections constitute the Branch, which is under the charge of an
Under Secretary. Two branches ordinarily form a Division, which is headed by a Deputy
Secretary. When the volume of work of a department is more than a Deputy Secretary can
manage, one or more Wings are established with a Joint Secretary in charge of each Wing. At the
top of the organisational hierarchy is the Secretary who is in charge of the Department.

PATTERN OF DEPARTMENTALISATION IN STATE SECRETARIAT

Each Secretary is normally in charge of more than one Department. The number of Secretariat
departments would therefore be larger than the number of secretaries. The number of secretariat
departments, quite naturally, varies from state to state. The number of departments in a particular
state is not necessarily related to its size in terms of population. For instance, in 2020, a small
state like Mizoram had as many as 48 Secretariat Departments, the corresponding figure for
Gujarat (which is a much larger state) had 25 Departments. Large number of departments, in
most of the states is created on the basis of factors such as volume of work, importance attached
to certain items, political expediency etc. Partly, such increase in the number of departments may
arise from the peculiar problems a particular state may face. In this context, the Second
Administrative Reforms Commission observed that a small and compact Secretariat in which all
activities and functions are kept together in one department with more responsibilities devolved
on local governments and executive work, which is not related to policy-making and monitoring,
hived off to executive agencies is necessary for good governances at all levels of administration.
Thus, there is an urgent need to rationalise the number of Secretariat Departments in the State
Governments.
CHIEF SECRETARY AND DIRECTORATES

Every state has a Chief Secretary. This functionary is the kingpin of the State Secretariat, her/his control
extending to all secretariat departments.

Position of Chief Secretary

S/he is not simply first among equal, s/he is, in fact, the chief of the Secretaries. The Chief Secretary’s
pre-eminent position is clearly reflected in the varied roles s/he assumes in the state administrative set-
up. The Chief Secretary is the chief advisor to the Chief Minister and Secretary to the State Cabinet. S/he
is the head of the General Administration department whose political head is the Chief Minister
herself/himself. The Chief Secretary is also Head of the Civil Services in the State. S/he is the main
channel of communication between the State Government and the Central and other State
governments. The Chief Secretary is the Chief Spokesman and Public Relations Officer of the State
Government, and is looked upon to provide leadership to the state’s administrative system. The office of
the Chief Secretary is an institution unique to the states; it is without a parallel in the administrative
landscape of the entire country. The Chief Secretary’s office has, for instance, no parallel in the Central
Government. The work s/he performs in relation to the State Government is, at the Union level, shared
by three high-ranking functionaries of more or less an equal status, i.e., Cabinet Secretary, Home
Secretary and Finance Secretary, This is a vivid reflection on the wide scope of the duties and powers of
the Chief Secretary. Yet another significant reflection on the position of the Chief Secretary’s office is the
fact that it has been excluded from the operation of the tenure system. The Chief Secretary would
normally retire as the Chief Secretary or else s/he would, from this position, move to the Union
Government to take up a more important position. In considering the position of the Chief Secretary,
another fact needs to be taken note of that the incumbent of this office is not necessarily the senior
most civil servant of the State. This was at any rate the situation till 1973 when, for instance, in Uttar
Pradesh, the Chief Secretary was junior in rank and seniority to the members of the Board of Revenue.
Since 1973, however, the office of the Chief Secretary has been standardised; and its incumbent since
then has begun to hold the rank of the Secretary to the Government of India, and receives emoluments
admissible to the latter.

Chief Secretary’s Functions

The principal functions of the Chief Secretary are listed below:

1. S/he is the principal adviser to the Chief Minister in which capacity s/he, inter-alia,works out the
detailed administrative implications of the proposals made by the Minister and coordinates
them into a cohesive plan of action.
2. The Chief Secretary is the Secretary to the Cabinet. S/he prepares the agenda for Cabinet
meetings, arranges them, maintains records of these meetings, ensures follow-up action on
Cabinet decisions, and provides assistance to the Cabinet Committees.
3. The Chief Secretary is the Head of the Civil Services of the State. In that capacity, s/he decides
on the postings and transfers of civil servants.
 4. By virtue of the unique position s/he holds as the head of the official machinery and adviser to
the Council of Ministers, the Chief Secretary is the coordinator-in-chief of the Secretariat
departments. S/he takes steps to secure inter-departmental cooperation and coordination. For
this purpose, s/he convenes and attends a large number of meetings at the Secretariat and
other levels. Meetings serve as a powerful tool of effective coordination and securing
cooperation of different agencies.
5. As the Chief of the secretaries, the Chief Secretary also presides over a large number of
committees and holds membership of many others. Besides, s/he looks after all matters not
falling within the jurisdiction of other Secretaries. In this sense, the Chief Secretary is a residual
legatee.
6. The Chief Secretary is the Vice-Chairman, by rotation, of the Zonal Council, of which the
particular state is a member.
7. S/he exercises administrative control over the Secretariat buildings, including matters
connected with space allocation. S/he also controls the Central Record Branch, the Secretariat
Library, and the conservancy and watch and ward staff. The Chief Secretary also controls the
staff attached to the Ministers.
8. In situations of crisis, the Chief Secretary acts as the nerve centre of the State, providing lead
and guidance to the concerned agencies in order to expedite relief operations. It would be no
exaggeration to say that in times of drought, flood, communal disturbances, etc., s/he virtually
represents the government for all the functionaries and agencies concerned to provide relief.

In conclusion, it may be noted that a host of personnel matters and many other minute and unimportant
administrative details consume a sizeable chunk of the Chief Secretary’s time. The Administrative
Reforms Commission is constrained to agree with the following observations of the Maharashtra
Reorganisation Commission (1962-68) on the manner in which the Chief Secretary has become
burdened with trivial details, “… it seems unfortunate that the highest official in the state has to sign
gazette notifications of appointments, promotions, transfers, leave, etc., that s/he has to spend time on
minutiae of protocol, passports, etc.”. To rectify this situation, the ARC has recommended that this
functionary be relieved of the work of routine nature as well as be provided with appropriate staff
assistance. That alone will ensure speedy implementation of decisions and effective coordination of
policies and programmes of the state government.
DIRECTORATE

Directorates are found both in the Union and state governments. Literally it means the office of
the director, which is analogous to the attached office of the Union government. But in state
administration it is a line agency which controls the field units also. A secretariat is a staff
agency while a directorate is regarded as a line agency.

In other words a secretariat is concerned with policy making while a directorate is concerned
with policy execution as an executive arms of state government. The directorates translate into
action the policies which are framed by the state secretariat.

Such a head of department is usually concerned with a single secretary to government and a
single minister, for his orders and the funds. In general, each administrative department of the
secretariat has a corresponding executive department in the field. But some secretariat
departments like law have no field agency.

The directorates are as a rule located outside the secretariat. They constitute distinct organisa-
tional entities headed by director who is assisted by additional directors, joint directors, deputy
directors and assistant directors. However, the head of a directorate (i.e., executive department or
executive agency) may also be known by various names viz.. Commissioner, Director-General,
Inspector-General, Registrar, Controller, Chief Engineer, Chief Conservator, and so on.

Types of directorates 

We can categorise the directorates into two categories:

1. Attached offices

These are responsible for providing directions for the execution of policies. Policies are provided
by the ministry to which directorates belong. In some conditions, we can also consider these
directorates as the data centre of the ministry. Using these data repository attached offices
provides suggestions to the ministry.

2. Subordinate offices

These are responsible for applying the policies on the ground. These offices work for detailed
execution of the policies defined by the government and execution planning done by the attached
office.

It can be said that the attached offices are aimed to perform two tasks: one is using the data and
technologies advising the belonging ministry; the second is to define the ways of execution of
 the policies.  Subordinate offices take the strategies from the attached offices and execute them
on the ground. Subordinate offices are the executive agencies.

Organisation of directorates

The organization of directorates is headed by the directors or commissioners. The Head of any
directorate is in charge of the administration and execution of projects. The government controls
the head of the directorates through other administrative departments such as the secretariat. 

By looking at the hierarchy we can say that secretaries in the secretariat are the ears and eyes of
the ministry, whereas directors or commissioners are the hands of the ministry. The people who
are appointed as directors or commissioners are generally generalist civil servants.

In the directorates, we can find the following main officers:

 Directors 
 Additional directors 
 Deputy directors
 Assistant directors 

The organization of the directorate can also include technical analysts and financial advisors.
Under the hood of the directorate, we find many zonal offices. 

The major functions of a state directorate are:

(1) To provide technical advice to the ministers.

(2) To exercise disciplinary powers over the subordinate officers as per rules.

(3) To inspect implementation of work by the departmental district staff.

(4) To make all appointments, confirmations, postings, transfers and promotions of officers
within the prescribed limits and approved rules.

(5) To render advise to the State Public Service Commission regarding promotions and disci-
plinary actions.

(6) To allocate grants and make budget re-appropriations.

(7) To carry out departmental research and experiment programmes to improve the efficiency of
the department.
(8) To organise in-service training programmes for departmental officers.

(9) To accord sanction to the officers for the attendance of conferences.

(10) To prepare the budget of the department.

The number and size of heads of departments depend upon the number of important subjects
administered by the state. The heads of the departments are usually called directors or commis-
sioners. They are assisted by additional directors, joint directors, deputy directors and assistant
directors.

Most of the departments have divisional headquarters. Each division is under a joint director or a
deputy director. A head of department may have officers-in-charge at regional or district levels.
There is in every district a representative of almost each department. Supervision over
departmental activities in districts is done by the regional officer, though overall superintendence
vests in the principal head of office.